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Stone Age

Early Stone
Age

The prehistory of Northern Norway is usually
divided into Early Stone Age, Late Stone Age and
Early Metal Age, and the periods are characterised
by the use of different technology and the presence
of different forms of social organisation.

30 000 years ago Northern Norway was covered
by a heavy ice sheet, part of the glacier that
covered Scandinavia and northern Germany. Around
13 - 14 000 years ago the glacier retreated from
the coast, and at around 11 000 years ago also
the inner parts of the fjords were free. Some
thousand years later the interior was free of
ice.

When the weight of the glacier disappeared,
the land started to rise. However, due to
melting of the glaciers, the ocean also rose in
the period between 6 400 and 3 800 BC. In some
areas the land raised enough to equal the rising
of the sea, but along the outer coast, where the
land rose more slowly, several settlements were
eventually flooded.

As a consequence of the movement of the ice,
changes in the landscape took place. Around 8000
B.C. the ice age was over, the climate got
better and the environment changed from open
areas of tundra into more forested areas. In a
short time, hunters used the whole coastline
from north to the south.

The traces of settlement are mainly situated in
areas with access to the ocean from several sides.
Most sites are open settlements without obvious
visible structures, sometimes tent-rings and
foundations for shelters are found, indicating
movement between different sites. As the ice
retreated, new areas seem to have been more
attractive. The earliest dwellings are vague and
without clearly marked walls, an indication of high
mobility.

Later the dwellings increase in number, size and
visibility, a result of more sedentary lifestyles.
The house types reminds of traditional Sámi
earthen houses, with walls of turf and a central
hearth. During the Stone Age people lived in small
tent-like houses, caves and huts.

In the period between early melting and complete
disappearance of the glacier the landscape was
open, and the vegetation was characterised by small
bushes, shrubs and grass. Eventually small forests
of birch started to form, and from 6 500 BC also
pine grew at sheltered places. Between 7 000 and 3
800 BC there was a period of warmer climate with
median temperature 1,5 - 2 degrees C higher than
today.

The
main archaeological material is stone tools and
remains from the production of those. (Stone tools
like arrowheads, spearheads, knifes, scrapers and
axes). Local stone types have been preferred, like
quartzite, rock crystal, chert and white quartz. A
small amount of flint is found (imported). The
tools were of similar shape and function, but the
raw materials differed over distances.

The coast of Northern Norway has been settled
from the earliest periods until today. However, who
these people were and where they came from is
uncertain. Two theories have been put forth: the
people came from the east, or, the people followed
the ice-edge northwards as the glaciers withdrew
from the coasts. The oldest remains of human
culture seem to trace back to Early Stone Age,
probably around 10 000 BP, but appears both in the
north and the south. Still researchers discuss
whether the immigration to Norway came from the
north or the south, and proof of early man exists
in both areas.

Artefacts and dwellings in this part of the
country inform us that through all ages people have
been in close contact with other groups of people.
Trade relations and social relations have
encompassed large areas. The presence of tools used
in the hunting of sea mammals, indicate the
importance marine resources had for people also in
prehistory.

Late Stone
Age

Several changes took place during the change
between Early and Late Stone Age, among them the
technology for the production of tools. Pottery
becomes a part of the archaeological material.

After living by hunting, fishing and gathering,
people start to keep animals and cultivate barley
around 4000 B.C. The organisation of settlement is
changing and the construction of buildings
develops

Still the rising of the land continues and the
shoreline is falling, though more slowly than
earlier. The warm period towards the end of the
Early Stone Age ceases around 4000 BC, and the
climate is gradually cooling during the Late Stone
Age. As a consequence, a de-forestation takes place
in the outer coastal areas. In the north the large
forests disappear, and around 1800 BC the
vegetation is approximately like today. A further
consequence of harder climatic conditions is that
resources like elk and reindeer become more
unpredictable. On the other hand, marine resources
are more stable.

New
raw material is taken into use, like in the north
where slate is frequently used in this period.
Chert and finer quartzite are replaced by more
coarse-grained types of stone (coarse quartzite and
quartz). New techniques developed i.e. techniques
for grinding and pressure flaking. Excavations show
that slate seems to have been more in use at the
coastline than the interior. Slate tools are often
used in connection with hunting of sea mammals like
seal and whale. From this period we have found
quite a lot of artefacts made of bone and antler:
fishing hooks, harpoons, needles, combs and
awls.

In the north, a number of dwellings tell about
life in the Late Stone Age. The houses vary in
size, and there is a sedentary pattern of
settlement, with movement between interior and
coast. The transition from Late Stone Age to Early
Metal Age is characterised by a strong dichotomy
between (semi) sedentary coastal groups and mobile
interior groups.

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